


Ready to Start

by thebrightestbird



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Elevator Sex, Fluff and Smut, Future Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-12-11 13:16:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11715150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebrightestbird/pseuds/thebrightestbird
Summary: Zack is stuck in the elevator with his neighbor late one night when the power goes out.They keep themselves busy.





	Ready to Start

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Arcade Fire

“Hey, can you hold the elevator?”

Zack usually takes the stairs up to his fifth-floor apartment to throw in a little extra exercise, but fuck it. It’s almost midnight after a 16-hour workday. Luckily, he managed to take a shower at the office, not being able to stand smelling the fish and saltwater anymore. He hasn’t fantasized about an empty bed like this in a while.

Whoever was in the elevator reaches a hand to hold it for Zack. He’s about to throw out a courteous “thanks, man” when he sees who the man actually is.

Jason Scott. His across-the-hall neighbor. And he’s in a suit and looks even better than he normally does – and Zack can’t handle this right now.

Despite being neighbors and passing each other sometimes, they’ve never really talked. It wasn’t because of lack of interest. Well, at least not from Zack.

It always seemed like missed opportunities with them.

“Our floor?” Jason asks Zack.

Those two small words never sounded so … promising. Zack tries to fake how unflustered he is. “Yep,” he breathes out. As soon as the 5 button is pushed and the doors close, both men immediately look down at their shoes to avoid eye contact, observing good, awkward elevator manners.

Zack is left to yet again puzzle over why Jason seems to be different than every other human being he’s found attractive. Usually, it was only a matter of confirming mutual attraction and who had the more convenient place for a hookup.

Before he can ponder anymore, the lights flicker and shut off completely, and the elevator stops abruptly. The emergency lights switch on and sweep the cramped space in a dim red hue. Zack looks at Jason, who’s looking around like what’s wrong will instantly jump out at him. Zack vaguely notices how the color red suits the man. “Relax, dude. It’s probably just a random power surge. Everything’ll turn back on in a minute.”

Jason simply nods in acknowledgement.

They wait a minute.

Then five minutes.

It’s been ten minutes now.

Okay, fifteen minutes is Zack’s limit for pretending to find his shoes fascinating. “Does your phone get a signal in here?” he asks Jason.

“No, I’ve just been playing chess on it.”

“Didn’t think it would. Mine’s out of battery anyway.” Zack looks around and up and spots the emergency exit at the top. “Dude, give me a boost.”

Jason looks at him warily. “… What?”

“We’re almost at our floor. We could climb up there and pry open the doors.”

“Zack, no. We can wait it out.”

“You know my name?” Because that can’t be right.

“Uh, yeah. We’ve been neighbors for almost a year.”

“We’ve never talked though.”

Jason squints in confusion. “You sure?”

“Trust me, I would’ve remembered.”

“Then you don’t know my name?”

Zack looks away but answers with a muttered, “Yeah, I know your name.”

He doesn’t hear any response from Jason, forcing him to nervously look back at the man. He’s raising his eyebrows in expectation.

Zack sighs. “Yes, _Jason_ , I know who you are. But not because we’re neighbors.”

That surprises him, but again, Jason doesn’t say anything and waits Zack out.

Zack runs a hand over his face. “I really didn’t think I’d ever have this conversation with you, but here goes nothing. You and I were in high school at the same time. I recognized you from back then.”

Jason opens his mouth in a silent “ah.”

“It was hard not to be aware of Angel Grove’s golden boy,” Zack continues.

Jason winces at that. Zack feels the urge to apologize even though he’s not sure for what.

“I’m sorry I don’t recognize you,” Jason finally says.

Zack snorts. “You wouldn’t. I wasn’t exactly an active student. Flunked out early senior year and didn't go back. Got my GED eventually.”

Jason nods, absorbing the information. They awkwardly shuffle their feet in their opposite corners for a minute.

“Are you going to help me?” Zack circles back to his idea.

“You’re serious about going up there?”

“Why not?”

“I don’t think we’re quite beyond the fourth floor. If we get on top of the elevator, we probably wouldn’t be able to reach the door to the fifth floor. Now, if you’ve got some superstrength in you, you’re welcome to open the elevator doors in front of us, but I’m telling you it’s not worth trying to climb up on top of the elevator unless you desperately need to pee.”

Zack laughs. “No, it’s not about that. Come on, Jason! Don’t you want to say you escaped an elevator once in your life?”

Jason looks bewildered but smiles. “The situation’s not that critical. We’re not on the verge of dropping 40 stories.”

Zack puts his hands on his hips, trying to look serious. “If the power’s not back by now, it’s not going to be back for a long while. That’s how Angel Grove’s power grid works, fucking California. I don’t want to spend the entire night in here. Do you?”

The other man seems to realize there’s some wisdom to what Zack’s said, but he’s not giving an answer.

“Come on! It’ll kill some time at least, and we’ll know for sure whether we can get out of here on our own.”

Jason caves. “Fine, I guess. But I can’t give you a boost. I’ve got a bad knee.”

“Football injury?” Zack asks.

“Um, no,” he says, shiftily. “It did happen in high school though.”

Zack waits to see if he might explain more, then shrugs when nothing more seems to be coming. “I’ll boost you up there then.”

“What? No!”

“We gotta do this, Jason.”

He huffs. “We really don’t.”

“Didn’t I just convince you we did a minute ago?”

“That was when I thought you’d give up the idea when you heard you couldn’t be the one who goes up there.” Jason crosses his arms. “I don’t need to go up there.”

Zack feigns outrage. “This was going to be our adventure together! I was sharing it with you! So, yeah, we’re still doing this.” He squats down. “Hop on my shoulders.”

Jason scrunches his face. “I’m not getting on your shoulders, Zack!”

“It’s the only way to get you up there. If you’re worried I can’t handle your weight, relax, I don’t skip leg days. I’ve got you.”

Jason runs a hand through his hair and looks away from him to look at the emergency exit above. He looks back down. Zack’s giving him his best pleading doe eyes. “Okay, fine! Scoot up so you’re directly below the exit.”

Zack gives him a triumphant smile and does as told. When he’s in place, Jason moves his legs to bracket Zack’s head. “You’re crazy, you know that?” Jason says.

“Yeah, I am,” Zack says and rises without warning. Jason lets out a little “whoa” but manages to stay put.

“Don’t raise me all the way or I’ll smash my head.”

“I know! Hurry up and open the hatch so I can straighten up my legs.”

Jason makes quick work of the lever and slides the door. It creaks as it scrapes open. “It’s open! Lift me up.”

Once Zack’s completely standing, Jason hooks his arms on the edges of the exit to alleviate the man of his weight. He looks up and sees that he was right. They’re just at the fourth floor. The door for the fifth is too high above to even bother standing on top of the elevator to leverage the doors open.

“I was right!” Jason can’t help but shout at Zack.

“Fine, killjoy! I’m lowering you back down.” Zack, of course, lowers too quickly, and Jason was still partially hanging on the exit’s edge. He slips back through the hole, and Zack, who was expecting more weight on him, stumbles to the ground, followed by Jason on top of him.

“Oh, my God, dude, you almost knocked the wind out of me,” Zack complains.

“I probably would have if you had landed on your back. Glad I landed on your ass for the both of us," Jason laughs. "I don’t think I want to explain any more injuries I got doing dumb shit.”

“Okay,” Zack huffs while turning over, Jason still leaning over him, “now you gotta tell me about your knee injury if you’re going to allude to it like that.”

Jason stays quiet, still catching his breath. He’s giving Zack the once-over, and for a moment Zack considers skipping the knee injury explanation and asking if Jason likes what he sees, but Jason opens his mouth to answer (and isn’t moving away from Zack to get up, he notices.) “Were you at Angel Grove long enough to hear about the prank I pulled with the cow in the locker rooms?”

Zack thinks back. “Oh, fuck, that’s right! You got kicked off the team for that.”

Jason huffs. “Sort of. The prank was bad, but I wouldn’t have gotten kicked off the team for it. Suspended for a few games, sure, but I injured myself that night in a car wreck trying to get away from security and cops. I flipped my truck. I’m lucky I survived that shit with a knee injury. It ended my season.”

Zack’s puzzled. “How come the big news was the prank instead of you surviving a major car crash?”

“Because I was mostly fine, and it was my screw-up that led to the wreck. Everyone got a free pass to focus on the dumb cow prank and call me an ass for ruining the football season.”

“But someone always pulls that prank. Seniors still do it.”

Jason looks off in the nonexistent distance. “Yeah, I know.”

Zack is all too familiar with feeling like a screw-up, so he changes the subject. “What’s with the suit?”

Jason looks down at himself, shaking free of his thoughts. “I was at a fundraiser for the school.”

“The school?”

“I’m the football coach at Angel Grove High.”

Zack snorts. Of course. “This town really is a black hole. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some ancient artifact buried underneath it, keeping us all bound to it.”

Jason smiles at the thought. “I kind of see the job as fulfilling my destiny. Turns out my dad was right. Football was the key to my future. Just not quite in the way he thought it would be.” He looks at Zack’s still prone body. Jason’s made himself comfortable sitting cross-legged next to him. “What about you? What’s keeping you here?”

Zack doesn’t really talk about himself. His past, his circumstances, he just doesn’t want to dwell on them. But Jason opened up to him. Fair’s fair. “I flunked school and didn’t bother going back because my mom died late that year. I had just met my best friend Trini back then, so I had her, but in reality, I still felt like I had no one. Roamed up and down the West Coast for a couple of years. Found myself back here eventually. Trini and me have been roomies since.”

“I see her in the yellow beanie a lot,” Jason says. “She caught me not separating my recycling right one day. Didn’t let me get away with it.”

“She call you a dick for doing it? Because that’s been my experience when I do that.”

“No,” he huffs, “but she said, ‘Homeboy, you gotta pay attention to the signs in front of you.’ ” Jason flits his eyes over Zack. “Then she helped me fish out the wrong items and throw them in the right bins. She was cool. We’ve talked a few more times since.”

That was news to Zack. Crazy girl’s been holding out on him.

“I guess she’s how I know your name,” Jason continues.

“I’m sure the word dumbass was associated with anything she mentioned of me.”

“Oh, yeah,” Jason smirks. “But always with affection. It’s nice to finally talk to the infamous Zack Taylor.”

They lock eyes for a moment. Since it’s dim in the elevator, Jason’s eyes are fully dilated. Zack likes to think it’s for other reasons too. He clears his throat. “Since we’re disclosing connections, I’ve had a few talks with your dad.”

Jason tilts his head in question.

“I work on the fishing boats. I’ve been part of the extra crew your dad hires from my company sometimes. Sam was on top of the world when you first moved back,” he feels compelled to mention. Zack can’t see it, but he thinks the other man is blushing.

Jason doesn’t respond right away, only looking at Zack. “You always seemed familiar,” he finally says. “You and Trini, actually. Like I already knew the both of you, should have known you all along.” He gets on his knees to lean close to Zack’s face, lifting his hand and touching his jawline with a single finger. Zack can hardly breathe from the light touch. “I think we have a lot of catching up to do.”

Zack can’t hold back any longer. He grabs Jason’s necktie and pulls hard, crashing their lips together. Their mutual groans are loud in the small space. Jason moves to hover over Zack, legs bracketing the man for an easier position to kiss. Zack is still holding Jason’s head in place with the tie, while Jason takes off his suit coat. He moves to unknot his tie, but Zack pulls even harder on it. “Keep it on,” he murmurs over Jason’s lips.

Jason smirks and nods an okay. He focuses on Zack’s clothes instead, grabbing the bottom of his T-shirt to lift up and with Zack’s help gets it off completely. Instead of getting back to kissing, Jason looks over Zack’s naked torso, moving a hand lightly along the contours of his muscles. “I thought I’d wish for more light in here to get a good look at you, but the shadows somehow make your body seem almost unreal, like you’re carved out of granite,” Jason says, leaning to resume kissing. “You’re a work of art, Zack.”

And Zack … doesn’t know how to respond to what was possibly the best compliment he’s ever received about his body. His need for Jason practically explodes, it’s too much. He flips their positions abruptly, Jason landing on his back with a slight huff. Zack nuzzles Jason’s neck and progresses slowly down the man’s still-clothed chest and stomach. He pulls out the dress shirt from the slacks, undoing some of the bottom buttons while he’s at it. Then he efficiently undoes the belt buckle and opens Jason’s fly wide, motioning for him to lift his hips so the pants can be pulled down farther.

After a moment of appreciation for Jason’s boxer-brief selection, Zack rubs the man’s covered cock slowly upward, trailing the tip of his tongue along the same path. Once he’s reached the head, he mouths and noses back down and pulls back the briefs. He takes a moment to admire the girth and length of Jason, to savor this moment that for months has only been a fantasy. He wraps a hand around the base, feeling the man shudder and hearing him release a long, steadying breath. He looks back up at Jason, who seems to be equally reveling in Zack’s attentions and watching him in wonder. The idea that this is as amazing to Jason as it is to Zack makes him feel powerful and, simply put, special. Two feelings that have never coursed through Zack with anyone else.

Zack turns his attention back to the cock in his hand, peeking his tongue out to begin teasing from where his hand stops covering when he remembers, “Damn it, the condom!” He unceremoniously lets go of Jason’s cock and crawls over to his forgotten gym bag near the other man’s head.

Jason whines instantly and looks over to Zack, who’s quickly rifling through the contents. “You keep condoms with you? I kind of guessed you were at work before. Why?”

“Not a whole box. Just one or two for emergency blowjobs.”

“Emergency blowjobs?” Jason says, skeptically.

Zack waves a hand in the direction of Jason’s uncovered groin in justification.

“Okay, point made,” Jason nods. “You got lube too?”

“Nah,” Zack says as he shoves his hand in every pocket. Damn gym bag doesn’t need this many pockets! “Don’t want to risk breaking the bottle or packets. Usually wouldn’t get that far anyway with most people for impromptu shenanigans. If I wanted to do more, I’d just go to their place or bring them back to mine.”

“You’re more practical with sex than I would have guessed.”

“Aha!” Zack finally finds a single packet and shows it off. “Safe sex is great sex, Jason.”

Jason rolls his eyes but leans in to give Zack a firm, brief kiss. “Thanks for looking out.” Zack nods. “Now, can you please get back to it because I just keep picturing how ridiculous I look laying here mostly clothed with my hard dick hanging out.”

Zack looks back down at the man. “Ridiculous isn’t the word I’d use, buuut,” he drags out the word as he opens the condom packet, “I’d be glad to get back to work, boss man.” He puts the condom in his mouth, earning him a wide-eyed look of anticipation from Jason, and crawls back to roll the condom ever so slowly down Jason’s cock, relaxing his throat so his lips almost completely reach the base. The groan Jason emits is music to Zack’s ears.

The yelp he hears when he swallows is a bonus.

Zack builds up a rhythm. Teasing Jason with licking would be fun, but Zack wants him to lose his mind over this blowjob, so suction will be better since Jason’s wrapped. He doesn’t let up, gradually moving faster and faster while cradling the man’s balls and slipping a finger behind to rub his perineum.

Jason seems to be maintaining some control by petting Zack’s head. He’s so glad he didn’t bother with styling gel after his shower at work because feeling Jason’s fingers run easily back and forth through the short strands is making having a cock in his mouth somehow even more intimate.

“Zack, so good,” Jason moans, then a breathless “fuck.” He arches his back to keep himself from thrusting into Zack’s mouth. Zack starts to lose himself in the rhythm and the giddy thought of giving pleasure to his beautiful neighbor.

The grip on his head suddenly tightens to a sweetly painful edge, and Jason comes with a shout. Zack removes his hand from the base of the shaft and slacks his jaw to get Jason almost completely in his mouth, letting the man give indulgent, short thrusts with his aftershocks.

When he feels Jason’s body mostly uncoil, Zack makes sure to hold the condom in place and slowly slides his lips away, fully looking up at Jason’s face. He takes the condom off and ties it, tossing it to the side for now.

Jason sits up to get close to Zack, placing a hand on his cheek and jaw to bring them together in a kiss. But Zack remembers, “You probably don’t want to kiss me right now. I’ll taste like latex.”

Jason brings their foreheads together. “You endured the taste to do … _that_ ,” he finally says, cute in the shy wording. “I’ll gladly endure it to get my mouth on yours and show you my gratitude.” Without delay, he kisses Zack like he was starving for it. For a man who just came, Jason is pouring a lot of energy and heat into the kiss. The word ravished flits through Zack’s head.

Jason leans into Zack to get him on his back and impressively manages to get his pants and briefs back up to cover himself without diminishing the intensity of their kiss. Once Zack’s mostly lying down, Jason finally breaks free to get his legs around Zack’s and to unzip and pull down Zack’s pants and briefs. With his cock free, Jason places his weight right below the man’s waist, pinning his lower body to the floor. He leans down to resume kissing, swallowing Zack’s yelp as his strong hand confidently grips the shaft and gets busy spreading the leaking precome to smoothly pull up and down the long cock, adding some twists to further torture Zack.

In only a couple of minutes, Zack is a panting mess, completely at the mercy of his neighbor. Jason settles his mouth on Zack’s left shoulder and collar bone, sucking and lightly nibbling. Jason is holding Zack up somewhat with his other arm and is moving his hips in sync with the up and down of his hand, simulating fucking, and nope, Zack’s not gonna last much longer.

“Jason, fuck, _now_ ,” Zack demands.

Jason obliges and tightens his fist even more, twisting even more, and crashing their mouths together just after Zack screams his name from coming, the pleasure shocking his senses. He can’t see, he can’t hear. He can only feel the solid weight on his hips, the strong arm wrapped around his upper back, the warm hand gentle on his softening cock.

His sense of taste still seems to be working though. As Jason keeps kissing him, Zack’s foggy mind supplies him with the sappy notion that this is what passion tastes like.

Jason almost collapses on top of him, but Zack somehow has the presence of mind to hold the man up above him. “I’m a mess. I know you’ve sweat through you dress shirt, but you still gotta walk off this elevator sometime. Old Mrs. Robertson could have been patiently waiting for the elevator this whole time. She’d scold you for indecency if you were shirtless.”

Jason snorts. “I’m pretty sure Mrs. Robertson would enjoy the view, and she’s probably asleep. What time is it anyway?”

Zack shifts his head around. “Mind if I grab your phone to check?” Jason shakes his head. “Okay, then get the towel from my bag so I can clean up.”

Zack reaches over to Jason’s suit coat to get the phone. Jason’s found his towel already and wastes no time cleaning the come from Zack’s stomach. _Such a gentleman_ , Zack muses.

“Hey, who are these babes?” Zack asks of the phone’s lockscreen picture.

“My best friends,” Jason smiles, “Kimberly and Billy. They went to Angel Grove at the same time as us. Billy teaches at the school too. Kim just moved back.”

Zack can’t help but mouth the words “black hole” while looking at the picture. Jason hands him his shirt and rolls his eyes, letting him know he didn’t miss the silent words.

“Weird thing is that I really only became friends with them senior year. We had detention together.”

“I don’t think I recognize Billy, but Kimberly,” Zack trails off. “Wait, Kimberly Hart? The cheerleader?”

“Yeah, well, she got kicked off the squad for, uh, reasons.”

“Oh, Trini is gonna freak to know Kimberly Hart is back in town. Crazy girl had a massive crush on her.”

Jason smiles. “I could introduce them. Actually, I could introduce both of you to my friends.”

Zack looks back questioningly.

The other man turns bashful. “I’m supposed to be having lunch with them tomorrow. You guys should come too.”

And that’s the first indication from either of them that what happened on this elevator would continue in some way once they leave it.

“That’d be great,” Zack says without hesitation, smile dopey. Jason returns it.

The elevator and lights, of course, hum back to life at that moment. The men make quick work of zipping and buttoning and tucking their clothing, and oh right, the used condom’s still on the floor. Zack makes sure to grab that.

When they reach their floor and the doors finally open, Jason and Zack walk out holding hands, despite not having a far distance to their apartments. They don’t let go when they’re standing in front of their doors either.

“So, um, my place or yours?” Jason asks, all shy and unsure like they didn’t just have sex in an elevator.

Zack snorts at the unbearable cuteness. “Why, Mr. Scott, what kind of girl do you take me for?” He waits for the expected eyeroll and smugly kisses the man. “Your place, dude,” he finally answers. “I don’t want to bother Trini. Let me just put my stuff away.”

Jason nods and looks reluctant to let go of Zack’s hand even with the assurance that he’s coming right over. “Ummm, bring the lube?”

Despite the late hour, Zack can’t stifle his laugh but smothers it with yet another kiss. “I am bringing the biggest bottle I’ve got. Like you said, we have a lot of catching up to do.”

||

“I used to see Trini hanging out on cliffs by the old quarry doing Karate Kid moves. Never got to talk to her though. One crazy night, there was an explosion, and she fell in a rock slide. I saved her.”

Trini rolls her eyes. “Did not. I wasn’t even hurt.”

“Which is kind of insane,” Zack says, “because that was one hell of a rock slide.”

Jason, Billy, and Kimberly stop eating their food immediately and look at one another.

“What?” Zack asks.

Billy nervously wipes his mouth with a napkin. “That, uh, th-that might’ve been my fault. My bad.”

Zack and Trini stare questioningly at their table companions.

Jason clears his throat. “The three of us were there that night. Billy accidentally blew up a mountain.”

“It was more like the _side_ of the mountain, Jason.”

“Yes, I know, Billy.”

“I was diving in the lake that night,” Kim says. “Jason found me and tried to ‘save’ me.” She looks at Trini with a shy smirk.

“Ugh, boys,” Trini says, playfully.

The ‘boys’ in question roll their eyes at the shameless flirting.

“So, we were all at the same place at the same time?” Jason says, looking at Zack.

“Why were you blasting, Billy? You find anything that night?” Zack feels like he should ask.

“Yeah, it was weird. The rock was like glass. Think there was something in there too.”

“We didn’t have a chance to figure it out,” Kim says. “Mine security alarms went off.”

“Then they demolished the place a week later,” Billy says.

Zack remembers that, remembers how wrong it felt for some reason. He looks hard at everyone at the table. Their story of that night is confirmation of the missed opportunities he’s felt when he looked at Jason. But Zack realizes it’s not only with his neighbor but with Billy, Kimberly, and even Trini, although they luckily found each other. It’s an aching feeling, like they all missed out on something bigger.

“Wish we’d met that night,” Zack finally says, addressing all of them. “I think I would’ve broken that glass.”

-end-

 

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't leave well enough alone and threw in that ending. I was fascinated with the idea that everything happens just like in the movie except they don't all quite find each other or the coins.
> 
> But now that they're all together ... who knows? ;)


End file.
